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♪ [theme song plays] ♪

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[narrator] By early 1943,

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the Japanese empire
was at its height.

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The country had occupied
Malaya and Burma,

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the Philippines and
the Dutch East Indies,

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Indonesia today.

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These territories had
become vital sources

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of strategic supplies
such as oil and rubber.

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Now the United States
laid plans to roll back

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the Japanese gains.

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The aim was to cut the
country's supply lines

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by seizing the
occupied territories.

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Japan could then be
gradually strangled to death.

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But to win in the vast
expanse of the Pacific,

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the U.S. would need
to develop new forms

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of mobile warfare.

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They would be based
on amphibious landings

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supported by aircraft
flying from carriers.

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The Japanese, unable to
match American fire power,

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resorted to increasingly
desperate measures.

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The country fell back
on ancient notions

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of 'military honour'

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to create suicide units.

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[explosion]

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The result would be a
terrible loss of life.

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[explosion]

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This would be a decisive
phase in the war

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in the Pacific

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and would mark the end of
Japan's dreams of empire.

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But this was to come.

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Back in the spring of 1943

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the U.S. military
chiefs faced a dilemma.

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They had been presented
with two options

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for the defeat of Japan.

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The flamboyant
U.S. Army General,

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Douglas MacArthur,
commander of the U.S.

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and Australian forces in
the South-West Pacific,

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favoured a primarily
land based route.

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His idea was to seize
the Solomon Islands,

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Papua New Guinea
and the Philippines.

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They could then be turned
into a strategic barrier

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that would cut
off Japan from its

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newly conquered lands
in Burma, Malaya

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and the Dutch East Indies.

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Japan would be starved
into surrender.

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Equally importantly,

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this plan would mean
MacArthur could repay a debt.

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Earlier in the war he
had been kicked out

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of the Philippines
by the Japanese

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and he had promised to return
to liberate the country.

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But the U.S. Navy
had a different idea.

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It would bypass the
heavily defended

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Solomon Islands,
Papua New Guinea

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and the Philippines.

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Instead it would seize a string

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of much smaller islands
scattered across

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the central Pacific and close

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to the Japanese homeland.

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Rather than a barrier

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the U.S. would have a
series of strategic bases

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from which to attack
Japan's supply lines.

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[plane revving]

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They argued it would be swifter

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and much more economic.

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The American military
command put off the decision.

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Both the Army and Navy
were told to go ahead.

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In June 1943, MacArthur's
plan was launched.

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It was called
Operation Cartwheel.

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The first target was the
major Japanese military base

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at Rabaul on New Britain
in the Solomon Islands.

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It would be a two
pronged attack.

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[explosions]

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The eastern prong
fought its way up

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through New Georgia
and Bougainville.

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[gunshots]

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[gunshots]

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The western prong
battled its way

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through Papua New Guinea.

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But the virtually
impenetrable jungle,

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and unhealthy climate,
made progress slow.

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It was nearly nine months
before the pincers met

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and the Japanese base
at Rabaul was isolated.

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Meanwhile as the U.S.
army took control

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of the Solomon Islands

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the U.S. Navy mustered
a mighty fleet.

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It included the first four
of the brand new

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Essex class aircraft carriers.

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They were bigger and faster
than anything before.

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The new carriers
were equipped with

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outstanding new planes
like the Hellcat

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and Corsair fighters,

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Helldiver dive-bombers,

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and Avenger torpedo bombers.

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Together they both
outperformed and outnumbered

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their Japanese opponents.

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The Navy's first targets
were the Japanese garrisons

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on the coral atolls
of Tarawa and Makin

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in the Gilbert Islands.

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These were close to some
of the most important

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supply routes
across the Pacific.

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[cannons firing]

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For a week the
atolls were bombed

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by carrier based aircraft.

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[explosions]

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Then on November 20th 1943

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there was an amphibious landing.

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Makin was captured
with little difficulty.

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But Tarawa
was a different story.

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Reconnaissance had failed
to reveal that the water

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was too shallow for
the landing craft.

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[explosion]

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As the marines waded ashore,

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they came under intense fire.

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[gunshots]

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The island was honeycombed

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with fortified
machine-gun nests.

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[machine guns firing]

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U.S. troops who
made it to dry land

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were pinned down on the beach.

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[machine guns firing]

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By the end of the day,

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over 1,500 of the 5,000
U.S. marines landed

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had been killed or
severely injured.

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Over the next two
days frontal assaults

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pushed the Japanese
back inch-by-inch.

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Very often, only
flamethrowers could eliminate

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the Japanese strong points.

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It took three days
before the last pocket

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of Japanese resistance
was wiped out.

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Of the 4,200 Japanese
troops on the island

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only 17 were captured alive.

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Tarawa was a terrible forerunner

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of what was to come.

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[people cheering]

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The Japanese had shown

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that there would be no
question of surrender.

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They would fight to the death.

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It was a grim prospect.

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In January 1944,
America's naval offensive

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in the Pacific moved on
to the Marshall Islands.

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Admiral Chester Nimitz,

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the U.S. naval commander
in the Central Pacific,

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was anxious to avoid
another bloodbath.

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So aircraft from his
carrier force

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bombed Japanese airfields
on the islands

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for nearly two months.

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[explosion]

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Finally, on February
the 1st 1944,

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he sent in the assault forces.

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The flat and open island
of Roi was quickly overrun.

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[gunshots]

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[explosion]

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[gunshots]

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But the islands of
Kwajalein, and Namur

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were wooded and the Japanese
resisted fanatically.

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[cannon firing]

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U.S. forces used
flamethrowers and explosives.

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[gunshots]

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[explosions]

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The Japanese responded
by launching suicidal

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'Banzai' charges.

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But the U.S. forces now
knew what to expect.

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The Japanese were beaten back.

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[gunshot]

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Over 8000 Japanese soldiers died

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for the loss of less
than 400 U.S. lives.

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[gunshots]

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Atoll after atoll in
the Marshall Islands

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now fell to the U.S. advance.

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Kwajalein was
followed by Eniwetok.

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The island of Truk was
bypassed and cut off,

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though a small Japanese
garrison would remain

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undefeated until
the end of the war.

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The way was now clear
for the next push,

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1000 miles west towards
the Mariana Islands.

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If captured the
islands would put

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the Japanese
mainland within range

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of U.S. heavy bombers.

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They would also enable
America to block

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Japan's supply lines
from Southeast Asia.

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On June 11, 1944,

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the U.S. started to soften
up the three main islands

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in the Marianas.

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[explosions]

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Four days later marines
stormed the beaches

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of the northerly
island of Saipan.

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This time the terrain
was mountainous.

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with many caves,

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and the preliminary
bombardment had not disrupted

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the Japanese defences as
much as had been hoped.

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[firing]

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Nevertheless, by
the end of the day,

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the American
bridgehead was secure.

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In Tokyo the news
caused mounting alarm.

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The Japanese High Command
now sent a carrier fleet

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to rescue the situation
and save the Marianas.

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But the task force was
spotted by U.S. submarines.

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The Americans sent
their main carrier force

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to intercept the Japanese.

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On the morning of
June 19th, 1944,

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the Japanese
launched air strikes

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against the U.S. ships.

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But U.S. radar saw them coming.

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450 fighters were
scrambled to intercept

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the Japanese planes.

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[firing]

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It turned into the largest
aircraft carrier battle

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ever fought.

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The U.S. Task Force had
15 aircraft carriers

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and more than 900 aircraft.

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Ranged against it the
Japanese had nine carriers

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and nearly five
hundred aircraft.

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But Japan had lost many of
its experienced aircrews

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during the Solomon and
Marshall Islands campaigns.

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Its novice pilots faced
battle-hardened U.S. fliers.

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The Japanese were
outgunned and outfought.

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It would go down in history

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as 'The Great Marianas
Turkey Shoot'.

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Half an hour into the battle

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a torpedo from a U.S.
submarine hit the newest

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and largest Japanese
carrier, the Taiho,

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while she was still
launching aircraft.

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[explosion]

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The battle of the Philippine Sea

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had claimed its
first major victim.

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At around the same time
another U.S. submarine

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torpedoed the carrier Shokaku.

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[explosions]

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She was completely destroyed.

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Nevertheless the Japanese
commander decided

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to continue with the operation,

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hoping to stop further U.S.
landings in the Marianas.

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For much of the following day,

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the U.S. forces tried to
pin down the exact location

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of the remaining
Japanese carriers.

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Seven, zero, nine, six.

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[narrator] It took
them until the afternoon

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to find them.

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It was late in the day
to launch an attack

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and the aircraft would
have to fly at the limit

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of their range.

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But the U.S. Task
Force commander,

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Admiral Marc Mitscher,
decided to gamble and attack.

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[explosion]

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[explosion]

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A third Japanese carrier,
the Hiyo, was hit and sunk.

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The Japanese had lost
over 300 aircraft.

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But as the U.S.
planes now returned,

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dangerously short of fuel,

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they ran into a problem.

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In the gathering darkness

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they couldn't find
their own carriers.

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Many ran out of fuel and
had to ditch in the sea.

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Mitscher, in an act of
extraordinary courage,

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ordered his carriers to
switch on their lights

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to guide in the
returning aircraft.

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Fortunately for the Americans

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there were no Japanese
submarines to see them.

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00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,480
Nevertheless over 80
U.S. planes were lost,

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either through having
to ditch in the sea

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or through crashing
while they landed.

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00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:20,240
[crash]

263
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,960
But Japanese losses
had been even greater.

264
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:31,240
Three carriers,

265
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,360
and most of the
aircraft needed to equip

266
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,400
its remaining carrier fleet,

267
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:36,920
were gone.

268
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,400
From now on,

269
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,040
the United States Navy
would dominate the Pacific,

270
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,080
striking when and
where it wanted.

271
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,320
[firing]

272
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,520
The Japanese naval defeat
in the Philippine Sea

273
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:00,840
meant the United States
could now press on

274
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,560
with its assault
on the Marianas.

275
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:05,520
[firing]

276
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,240
[explosion]

277
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,320
The Japanese forces on Saipan

278
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,000
held out for three weeks

279
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,840
before they were overcome
on July 9th, 1944.

280
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,680
The final horror came

281
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:30,760
when thousands of
Japanese civilians

282
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:32,680
were persuaded to
jump to their deaths

283
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,160
from the cliffs rather
than be captured

284
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:36,800
by the Americans.

285
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,880
[screaming]

286
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,600
The last Japanese troops
then launched their now

287
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,280
inevitable suicide charge.

288
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,360
[firing]

289
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:02,040
Virtually the entire
32,000-strong garrison

290
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:03,240
was killed.

291
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,120
Over 3,000 Americans also died.

292
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,880
Two weeks later U.S. marines
landed on the islands of Guam

293
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,000
and Tinian,
also in the Marianas.

294
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:23,640
[people screaming]

295
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,280
[firing]

296
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,840
Once again they faced suicidal

297
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,880
Japanese counterattacks.

298
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,440
But they failed to stop
the American advance.

299
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,600
The U.S. Navy had
seized the Marianas.

300
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,280
Both the U.S. Army
and Navy offensives

301
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,240
had now completed
the first phase

302
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,840
of their separate
strategies to isolate Japan.

303
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,880
The U.S. military planners
now had to make a choice.

304
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:05,960
[gunshots]

305
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,520
Should they continue to
back MacArthur's strategy

306
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,680
and move on to the capture
of the Philippines?

307
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,680
Or should they go
with the naval plan

308
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,840
and send a fleet across
the Pacific to seize Taiwan

309
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,320
or the Ryukyu Islands?

310
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,600
The Naval option
would isolate Japan

311
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,280
without the need for an
almost certainly lengthy

312
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,480
and bloody operation to
take the Philippines.

313
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,880
But at a meeting in
Hawaii on July 26th, 1944,

314
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,280
MacArthur charmed
President Roosevelt

315
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,760
into backing his plan to
liberate the Philippines.

316
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:54,560
The Navy was instructed
to support it

317
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,720
before returning to its
island hopping strategy.

318
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,720
It was a decision that
would cost a horrendous number

319
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,920
of both military
and civilian lives.

320
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,560
The following month
U.S. forces landed

321
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,560
on the Philippine
island of Leyte.

322
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,280
[firing]

323
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,320
They took the
Japanese by surprise.

324
00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,520
They had expected the
first U.S. landing

325
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,360
to be on the main
island of Luzon.

326
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,560
Within hours MacArthur
was striding ashore

327
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,280
with press photographers
in attendance.

328
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,440
He later made a broadcast
to the Philippine people.

329
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:59,800
I see that the old
flagpole still stands.

330
00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:05,880
Have your troops hoist
the colours to its peak,

331
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,800
and let no enemy
ever haul them down.

332
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,320
[narrator] But the
Japanese soon recovered

333
00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:21,800
and launched an ambitious
plan to use the remains

334
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,040
of their naval power
to counter-attack.

335
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,320
Operation Sho, meaning Victory,

336
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,320
was typically complex.

337
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,440
The main strength of
the Japanese fleet

338
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,960
was divided into two
groups to form a pincer.

339
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:43,720
One pincer would
approach through the

340
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,880
San Bernardino Straits and
attack the U.S. landing

341
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:48,280
from the north.

342
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,200
The second would
come in through

343
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,560
the Surigao Straits and
attack from the south.

344
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,720
Meanwhile, a decoy
group of Japan's

345
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,720
last four carriers would
approach the Philippines

346
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,280
from the north-east,

347
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,160
hoping to lure away the
main U.S. carrier force

348
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:07,920
covering the landing.

349
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,320
The northern arm of
the Japanese pincer

350
00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,160
came under air attack
almost immediately.

351
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,920
[explosions]

352
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,400
After nearly two
days of bombardment,

353
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,120
the super-battleship
Musashi was sunk.

354
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,240
The northern pincer then
appeared to retreat.

355
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,160
It was now that
the U.S. commanders

356
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,960
got into a muddle.

357
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,400
The man in charge of
the main carrier force

358
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:46,800
covering the landings

359
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,680
was Admiral William
'Bull' Halsey.

360
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:58,120
He now got word of
the Japanese carriers

361
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,760
approaching from the north east.

362
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,360
Halsey, believing
the northern pincer

363
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,200
was no longer a threat,
set off to intercept them.

364
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,120
He had fallen for
the Japanese decoy.

365
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,160
The force protecting
the U.S. landing

366
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,480
was now severely weakened.

367
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,520
But the commander of this force

368
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,760
now inadvertently
compounded the problem.

369
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,240
Unaware that Halsey
had taken off,

370
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,120
he sent his battleships
to ambush the southern arm

371
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,120
of the Japanese pincer.

372
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,160
It looked like a
spectacular success.

373
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,760
[firing]

374
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:56,960
But then disaster struck.

375
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,400
The northern arm of
the Japanese pincer

376
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,960
had only pretended to retreat.

377
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,560
Under cover of darkness
it turned round

378
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,320
and headed back.

379
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,120
It then attacked the
hugely depleted force

380
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,120
protecting the U.S. landing.

381
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,880
Only a handful of small
escort carriers and destroyers

382
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,960
faced the Japanese
super-battleship Yamato

383
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,520
and three other battleships.

384
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,280
[firing]

385
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,080
It was now the turn
of the Americans

386
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,000
to put up a desperate fight.

387
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,920
[firing]

388
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:02,800
The Japanese tactic had caught

389
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:04,960
the U.S. aircraft unprepared.

390
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:07,960
They were armed
with high explosives

391
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,240
for land operations rather
than armour piercing bombs

392
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,120
for ships.

393
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,200
[firing]

394
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,400
Then, just as it
seemed the Japanese

395
00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,000
must break through,

396
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,360
they suddenly turned tail.

397
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,080
Their commander had worried

398
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,440
he was sailing into a trap.

399
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:46,960
Meanwhile to the north,

400
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,000
Halsey's headlong
rush to intercept

401
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,560
the Japanese decoy
force, finally paid off.

402
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,080
[firing]

403
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,560
[screaming]

404
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,760
On October the 25th, 1944,

405
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,960
all four Japanese
carriers were sunk.

406
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,360
[firing]

407
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,280
The battle of Leyte Gulf

408
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,640
had completely
finished off Japan's

409
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:27,680
once proud navy.

410
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,040
There was now little
hope of holding back

411
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,680
the American advance.

412
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,800
For Japan it was time
for desperate measures.

413
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,200
The stage was set
for a terrible climax

414
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,160
to Macarthur's plan.

415
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,240
[firing] [people screaming]

416
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,120
By the autumn of 1944

417
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,720
the Allies had isolated
the Japanese forces

418
00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,520
in the Philippines.

419
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,280
Their naval support
had been destroyed.

420
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,360
Japan needed a new tactic
if it was to hold back

421
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,040
the American advance.

422
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:12,320
[cheering]

423
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,200
The Japanese commander
in the islands

424
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,400
called for volunteers
to join special units.

425
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,720
They were called the
Kamikazes or Divine Wind.

426
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,640
And drew on the Japanese
military code of honour

427
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:39,120
that it was better to die
than live as a coward.

428
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,880
They were suicide units.

429
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,120
On October 25th,1944,

430
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,880
the first Kamikaze unit took
a final ceremonial drink

431
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:01,720
before taking off.

432
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,160
Its target was the U.S. fleet.

433
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,480
[firing]

434
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,200
The escort carrier
St Lo was sunk

435
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,800
and two others badly damaged.

436
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,600
[firing]

437
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,760
Further Kamikaze
attacks followed.

438
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,240
[firing]

439
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,000
Not all were
restricted to the air.

440
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,960
The Japanese troops now
began strapping mines

441
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,600
to their bodies and
deliberately diving

442
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,480
under U.S. tanks.

443
00:32:58,200 --> 00:32:59,600
[explosion]

444
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,920
The American advance through
the Philippine island

445
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,440
of Leyte slowed.

446
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,360
[firing]

447
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:17,560
It would take two
months before the island

448
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:19,600
was finally secured.

449
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,760
[firing]

450
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:28,600
Over 70,000 Japanese troops
had lost their lives.

451
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,000
The Americans had lost
nearly 16,000 men.

452
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:49,840
But MacArthur was undaunted.

453
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,680
He now moved on to the
main Philippine island

454
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:54,160
of Luzon.

455
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,480
The defences were, as usual,

456
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,680
softened up by air attacks.

457
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,560
The U.S. troops went
ashore virtually unopposed.

458
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:21,920
[firing]

459
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,880
But as they advanced,
Japanese resistance stiffened.

460
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:26,640
[firing]

461
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,800
Tanks, artillery, mortars
and flame throwers

462
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:34,400
were used to
destroy a succession

463
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,560
of Japanese strongholds.

464
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,240
[firing]

465
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:44,800
Painfully the U.S.
forces battled forward.

466
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,760
By January the 23rd, 1945,

467
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,440
they had reached the major
airbase of Clark Field,

468
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,240
60 miles from the
capital Manila.

469
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,720
A week later they were
approaching the capital itself.

470
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,840
Manila was famous for
its architectural beauty.

471
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,760
The Japanese regional commander

472
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,080
had taken a decision to
preserve its buildings

473
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,160
by not defending it.

474
00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:29,960
But the junior Japanese
garrison commander

475
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,120
disobeyed orders and
refused to withdraw.

476
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,320
His 20,000 troops
pledged to defend Manila

477
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,160
to the death.

478
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,560
[firing]

479
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:44,840
There now began a
ferocious, month long battle

480
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,160
to seize the Philippine capital.

481
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,720
[firing]

482
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,160
The U.S. troops fought
their way into the city.

483
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:02,240
[explosion]

484
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,280
At first they too tried to
preserve the major buildings.

485
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,000
But as they ran into
snipers, machine-gun nests

486
00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:12,720
and hidden artillery,

487
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,040
they were forced to reduce
much of the city to rubble.

488
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,760
[explosions]

489
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:28,760
By the end of February

490
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,600
the Japanese defenders
had been driven back

491
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,040
into the 16th-century
citadel of Intramuros.

492
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,440
[firing]

493
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,000
It would take another
week of fierce fighting

494
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:48,480
to flush them out.

495
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,480
[firing]

496
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,160
[explosion]

497
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,320
Finally, on April 13th, 1945,

498
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,800
U.S. forces mounted
an amphibious attack

499
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,760
on Manila Bay's
last fortification,

500
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:15,800
Fort Drum, the 'Concrete
Battleship' in the harbour.

501
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,600
Its ventilation shafts
were packed with kerosene,

502
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,880
white phosphorous
and explosives.

503
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:29,360
[explosion]

504
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,320
None of the defenders survived.

505
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,800
The battle for Manila had
been an horrific affair.

506
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,880
Thousands of Japanese and
U.S. soldiers had died.

507
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:07,640
But the real horror was
that some 100,000 civilians

508
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,400
also lost their lives.

509
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,920
Many massacred indiscriminately
by the Japanese

510
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,760
during the final
days of fighting.

511
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,560
Elsewhere in the Philippines

512
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,720
there were more than
50 U.S. landings

513
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,560
on other smaller islands.

514
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,240
[firing]

515
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,480
But it would take until
the end of the war

516
00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:44,600
before the last pockets
of Japanese resistance

517
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,680
were finally flushed out.

518
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:48,760
[explosion]

519
00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:53,800
[trumpet]

520
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,760
MacArthur's conquest
of the Philippines

521
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:01,000
had proved as difficult
and costly in lives

522
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,280
as his critics had feared.

523
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,160
It may also have
been unnecessary.

524
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:18,240
By now U.S. submarines had
virtually cut off Japan

525
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,320
from its supply lines and
the Navy was closing in

526
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,240
on the homeland itself.

527
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:28,800
The Japanese merchant fleet

528
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:31,280
was particularly vulnerable.

529
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:37,880
It was rarely
organised into convoys

530
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,280
and anyway there weren't
enough escort vessels

531
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,120
to protect them.

532
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:45,240
[firing]

533
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:53,080
By the end of 1944 so many
Japanese merchant ships

534
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,320
had been sunk,

535
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,120
the U.S. Navy was
having problems

536
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,480
finding new targets.

537
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,040
U.S. submarines now
moved in ever-closer

538
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,320
to the shores of the
Japanese home islands.

539
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:11,840
Japan was being starved of fuel,

540
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,800
food and raw materials.

541
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,440
The U.S. Navy's
submarines in the Pacific

542
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,840
had succeeded where German
U-boats in the Atlantic

543
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:35,320
had failed in bringing an
island nation close to defeat.

544
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:42,200
But now the U.S. forces
faced the daunting prospect

545
00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:45,720
of invading its fanatical
enemy's homeland.

546
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,280
[firing]

547
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:03,240
By spring 1945 U.S. forces
were closing in on Japan

548
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:05,280
from the south and east.

549
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:15,600
But to the west in
China, Burma and India

550
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:19,240
a separate campaign
had been unfolding.

551
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:22,000
[firing]

552
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:31,160
Japan had invaded China in 1937.

553
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,160
The United States had
regarded the Chinese leader,

554
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,640
Chiang Kai-Shek, as a
western ally, and sent aid.

555
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,280
Much of it went in through
British controlled Burma

556
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,280
along the so-called Burma
Road over the mountains

557
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,160
to southern China.

558
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,800
Then in 1942 Japan invaded Burma

559
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:09,760
and kicked out the British.

560
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,200
The Burma road was shut down.

561
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,760
Six months later Britain
launched the first of a series

562
00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:27,840
of attacks to retake Burma
and re-open the road.

563
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:33,120
The first, in late 1942

564
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,480
advanced down the
Burmese coast from India.

565
00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:42,800
But the Japanese crushed it.

566
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:46,840
[firing]

567
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,280
The second, nine months later,

568
00:42:53,320 --> 00:42:55,520
tried a different approach.

569
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:00,360
Instead of sending in
a conventional force,

570
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:03,240
small groups of soldiers
were infiltrated

571
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,480
deep behind Japanese lines.

572
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:11,840
They were known as Chindits

573
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,720
and were the brainchild of
an unconventional officer,

574
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,120
called Orde Wingate.

575
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,480
Their task was to
destroy railway lines

576
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,600
and disrupt Japanese
communications.

577
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:32,040
[reporter] 'Chindits.

578
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:33,480
That's the name of
the guardian statues

579
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:35,560
which stand up the steps
of Burmese pagodas.

580
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,000
A name from legend that's
becomes flesh and blood.

581
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:40,840
Living guardians
of Burma's liberty.

582
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:45,000
[firing]

583
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,200
[narrator] But the Japanese soon
began to hunt them down.

584
00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:03,240
By mid-April in 1943

585
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,800
over one-third of the Chindit
forces had been killed.

586
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,280
The remainder were
forced back into India.

587
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:17,280
The struggle to re-take Burma

588
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,880
was becoming a serious problem.

589
00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:27,520
So in late 1943 the Allies
turned to U.S. General,

590
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:28,880
Joseph Stilwell.

591
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:30,040
We got run out of Burma,

592
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:31,760
and it's humiliating as hell.

593
00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:34,960
I think we ought to
find out what caused it,

594
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,280
go back and re-take the place.

595
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,200
[narrator] Stillwell
had spent years helping to

596
00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:45,160
overhaul the forces
of neighbouring China.

597
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:46,920
[firing]

598
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,440
The Allies now decided
to put them to the test.

599
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:54,160
[firing]

600
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:00,560
Stilwell's Chinese
soldiers reinforced by

601
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:02,640
an elite U.S. group
of jungle fighters

602
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,840
known as Merrill's Marauders

603
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:06,720
would be sent into Burma.

604
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:14,680
On October 1943, they
crossed the border

605
00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:18,160
and made their way down the
east side of the country.

606
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:26,600
Meanwhile, the British
India Army

607
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:30,640
launched a diversionary strike
along the Burmese coast.

608
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:34,200
[firing]

609
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:40,680
Finally, Chindits moved
into northern Burma,

610
00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:42,440
deep behind enemy lines

611
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:44,840
to cut Japanese supply routes.

612
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,760
The Japanese fell for
the diversionary tactic

613
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:53,080
and sent forces to
counterattack along the coast.

614
00:45:54,240 --> 00:45:56,520
Two divisions of troops
from British India

615
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:58,560
came under fierce fire.

616
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:00,920
[firing]

617
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,200
But the Allied forces
stood their ground.

618
00:46:11,160 --> 00:46:13,520
They were re-supplied
from the air.

619
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,360
They could now fight
back and two weeks later

620
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:20,480
the Japanese withdrew.

621
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:23,840
[firing]

622
00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:25,600
[explosion]

623
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:32,840
But it was only a
temporary reprieve.

624
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:35,240
The Japanese launched
a counter-offensive

625
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:36,640
of their own.

626
00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:38,000
[explosion]

627
00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,440
[firing]

628
00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:51,120
In March 1944,
they invaded India

629
00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:53,640
in an attempt to disrupt
Allied preparations

630
00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:55,520
for further attacks.

631
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,440
For two weeks there
was intense fighting.

632
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:06,560
The towns of Kohima and
Imphal were besieged.

633
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,320
But there was stiff resistance

634
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,080
and the Japanese were
finally forced to withdraw.

635
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,880
Over 65,000 of them were killed.

636
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:28,960
It was a major blow to
their military strength

637
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:30,440
in the region.

638
00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:36,000
Meanwhile in Burma,
Stillwell's Chinese forces

639
00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:38,320
had fought their way
down the east side

640
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:40,400
of the country and by May 1944

641
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,680
had reached the important
cross-roads town

642
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:47,160
of Myitkyina on
the old Burma road.

643
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,360
For three months the
Japanese held them off.

644
00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:00,680
But in early August 1944,
Myitkyina was over-run.

645
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,840
The way was now clear
for Stillwell's men

646
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:11,720
to push further on down the
east side of the country.

647
00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:17,280
They were soon joined
by a fresh force of

648
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:19,880
Anglo-Indian troops
under British General

649
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:21,480
William Slim.

650
00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,600
This began advancing into
the centre of the country.

651
00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:29,640
[explosion]

652
00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:32,720
In early March 1945, Slim's
forces took

653
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:36,280
the important communications
centre of Meiktila.

654
00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:42,240
Soon afterwards they
seized Mandalay.

655
00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:47,400
[explosion]

656
00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:50,120
[firing]

657
00:48:59,240 --> 00:49:01,480
With the monsoon
season now approaching

658
00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:04,840
Stillwell's forces
dug in on the East.

659
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:10,760
But Slim's forces
pushed on towards

660
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:13,200
the Burmese capital of Rangoon.

661
00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:18,040
They were slowed
down by the rain.

662
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:22,360
But by early May 1945

663
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:26,560
the Allied troops were 20
miles north of Rangoon.

664
00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:34,680
Allied reinforcements were
now sent in from the south

665
00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:36,400
to support them.

666
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:41,920
Gurkhas parachuted into
the Irrawaddy delta.

667
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,560
An Indian division
came in by sea.

668
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:56,680
On May the 3rd 1945,

669
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:59,840
the Allied forces
finally entered Rangoon.

670
00:50:01,200 --> 00:50:03,120
But the city was empty.

671
00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:04,880
The Japanese had pulled out

672
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,240
rather than risk being cut off.

673
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:09,440
[people cheering]

674
00:50:12,240 --> 00:50:15,240
The monsoon was
now in full flow.

675
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:19,520
But the campaign to clear
the Japanese out of Burma

676
00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:22,000
was effectively over.

677
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:25,680
The next stop in the
war in South-East Asia

678
00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:27,080
would be Malaya.

679
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:30,400
But for all the success,

680
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,920
allied losses in the
war against the Japanese

681
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:34,400
had been terrible.

682
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:37,720
The Americans were
desperate to find a way

683
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:39,800
to bring the war to an end

684
00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:43,600
without having to invade
the Japanese homeland.

9999
00:00:0,500 --> 00:00:2,00
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